PlayStation is to shut down its London Studio, as part of a wave of job cuts across the globe.
The Sony-owned video games giant will cut a total of 900 jobs in its gaming division across the globe. The London Studio, founded in 2002 and based in Sony’s Soho office, will close entirely. The studio is best known for the SingStar series of games.
The cuts were announced in a blog post from Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios.
Hulst said: “Our goal at PlayStation Studios has always been to make the best games for PlayStation fans, and our global community of studios represent some of the most creative and talented teams within the gaming industry.
“PlayStation 5 is in its fourth year, and we are at a stage where we need to step back and look at what our business needs.”
Outside of London, the Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog studios will also see major cuts, with “smaller reductions” elsewhere.
Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said: “The PlayStation community means everything to us, so I felt it was important to update you on a difficult day at our company. We have made the extremely hard decision to announce our plan to commence a reduction of our overall headcount globally by about 8% or about 900 people, subject to local law and consultation processes. Employees across the globe, including our studios, are impacted.
“These are incredibly talented people who have been part of our success, and we are very grateful for their contributions. However, the industry has changed immensely, and we need to future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead. “
Hulst also said that some projects that were being worked on are now set to be scrapped.
He said: “We looked at our studios and our portfolio, evaluating projects in various stages of development, and have decided that some of those projects will not move forward.
“I want to be clear that the decision to stop work on these projects is not a reflection on the talent or passion of team members.
“Our philosophy has always been to allow creative experimentation. Sometimes, great ideas don’t become great games. Sometimes, a project is started with the best intentions before shifts within the market or industry result in a change of plan.”
